World Malaria Day is just around the corner on April 25th—just 615 days away from the malaria community’s deadline to achieve universal access to malaria interventions in Africa by December 31, 2010. This year’s timely World Malaria Day theme, “Counting Malaria Out”, keeps the pressure on to reach our goal and save lives from this preventable and treatable disease.

Every second counts. The world needs to intensify its efforts in the months to come, building on the momentum of the accomplishments of recent years: significant reductions in deaths, growing political will in Africa and abroad, and unprecedented public awareness. We’re in a race to end malaria deaths…and we need your help to get there.

Malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds and costs the continent $12 billion every year in lost productivity. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have the tools and the programs in place to end malaria deaths—help us support Africa in its efforts to break the cycle of sickness and poverty.

This World Malaria Day, Malaria No More is urging US leadership for continued support in the winning battle against malaria. Malaria offers an incredible opportunity for return-on-investment—exactly what the world is looking for in this economic climate. Help President Obama keep his campaign promise of joining with the global malaria community to end malaria deaths by 2015.

Join us on World Malaria Day as we focus on “Counting Malaria Out” and be part of the first great humanitarian success story of the 21st century—making malaria no more for once and for all.

Find out more at www.MalariaNoMore.org.

-Emily Bergantino, Malaria No More

ONE partner World Vision gears up for World Malaria Day (April 25) with this video and a new website: www.endmalaria.org.

As World Malaria Day gets closer, ONE will provide more ways to educate and take action.

Take a look.

-Mark Brinkmoeller

Todd Jennings, who works for PATH in Zambia, sends us his last post in a series for World Malaria Day.

4-25-2008

The 2008 Race Against Malaria concluded this World Malaria Day morning with all 31 riders arriving safely at the Mukuni Park Grounds in Livingstone. They had a royal reception—literally. Princess Astrid of Belgium shook their hands, followed by Rupiah Banda, the vice president of Zambia; and Yvonne Chaka Chaka, the South African entertainer and Roll Back Malaria representative.  A huge crowd had assembled in Livingstone for this year’s World Malaria Day celebration, which featured loads of VIPs like the above, plus all the health ministers from 14 southern African countries.  All gave a mighty applause when the cyclists entered the park, especially when everyone learned the riders had covered 1,000 kilometers since Monday. 

Joining the Cycling Association of Zambia for this year’s event was Tour d’Afrique cyclist Irmgard Bush. Because of her personal experience with malaria, she didn’t hesitate when invited to participate: Irmgard almost died of malaria in 2006 while on a marathon tour from Cairo to Cape Town. She suffered a severe bout of malaria and was attended to by medical staff in Mazabuka, Zambia. Since then, Irmgard has been a vocal supporter in the fight against malaria.

Irmgard was the only woman in the Race Against Malaria, and for much of the way she pedaled on a tandem with national cycling coach Peter Chintu, the rider featured in an earlier posting on this blog. In this audio clip, Peter talks about this year’s experience.

-Todd Jennings, Advocacy Officer, Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA), a program at PATH, Lusaka, Zambia.

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Today – on World Malaria Day – all three major presidential candidates reiterated their commitments to fight malaria worldwide.

You can check out Clinton’s statement here, McCain’s here, and Obama’s statement should be live here shortly.

The three – Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama – had already told us their plans as part of ONE’s “On The Record” campaign last December.

-Virginia Simmons

April 25 is the First World Malaria Day.

You probably know that malaria is spread through mosquitoes, but did you know that it has been used as a treatment for syphilis?

Malaria has been with us a long time and had some interesting roles in history—playing major parts in everything from economic development to military battles. See how much you know about malaria and how much you know about ways you can fight malaria. (Challenge yourself—try to answer all the questions in 30 seconds.)

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1. All of the following US Presidents had malaria except:

a. George Washington
b. John F. Kennedy
c. Franklin Roosevelt
d. Abraham Lincoln

2. During the American Civil War, malaria accounted for how many estimated deaths?

a. 5,000
b. 8,000
c. 10,000
d. 15,000

3. The types of mosquitoes responsible for malaria transmission in the U.S. are still widely prevalent here, meaning malaria could be reintroduced in the U.S.

True or False?

4. About how many people are infected with malaria annually?

a. 20-40 thousand
b. 600-800 thousand
c. 100-200 million
d. 300-500 million

5.President Franklin Roosevelt assembled a panel of experts to evaluate the economic impact of malaria in the US. They concluded that malaria reduced the output of southern states by:

a. 11%
b. 25%
c. 33%
d. 47%

6. It’s estimated that malaria reduces the Gross Domestic Product of some African countries by:

a. 10%
b. 20%
c. 30%
d. 40%

7. What percent of the research budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American government’s biomedical research center, is spent on malaria research for things like new treatments, better prevention, and a vaccine?

a. 0%
b. 0.3%
c. 4.7%
d. 9.2%

8. Challenges in malaria control include which of the following?

a. Rapid spread of antimalarial drug resistance, i.e., current drugs lose effectiveness and new drugs are continually needed.
b. Poverty
c. Increased resistance of vector mosquitoes to insecticides (pyrethroid & DDT)
d. Lack of an effective vaccine
e. All of the above.

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For answers and explanations please click here.

-Christine Kim, Families USA, Global Health Initiative